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A fast shutter speed requires a lot of light, so if the sun is setting quickly, drop the shutter speed way down (start at 1/60 and work from there) to do some panning, which is simply using a slow shutter and following a horizontally moving subject with your camera.
The effect is neat, because the parts of you image that are flashing by quickly (background, horse's legs) become a big blur, but the sections that are moving with your camera and somewhat still, like the body, will turn out sharp.
It takes some practice, but it's very effective once you polish the skill. Nothing says speed or action like a panning shot!
These were done in a friend's indoor back in Illinois on a bitterly cold day. Just having fun, but I think these turned out cool! Kinda ghostly if you ask me... Very slow shutter speeds.
Here's a baker's dozen of my favorite shots of the year. It's quite difficult to choose just a few considering I've shot well over 50K images since the year started!
Seriously, they are so much fun. It's really neat to see your photos on items like calendars, mousepads, mugs, handbags, blankets, magnets, journals, & more!
I wanted to say thank you to all those who purchased custom gifts for loved ones this season. So far it's only been rave reviews and that makes me so happy.
Here are a few of my favorite gifts:
A gorgeous Gina Alexander Handbag. This is the canvas bag - look at how finely woven it is! I adore these handbags - just don't have enough money to buy all the bags I'd like. :)
They're not cheap, but well worth every penny. I have yet to find a custom photo bag on the market that even comes close to comparison.
This custom photo blanket is HUGE and turned out even better than I expected. Large areas of black can be tricky.
The custom calendars really turned out to be a big hit! Thanks to those who purchased my "best of" calendars - The Real Wild West & Best of Equus Luminous.
Everyone said the large size really suited the fine art type images perfectly. I even kept one of each for myself. ;)
I'm going to order one last batch for the year, if you'd like to be included, click here to purchase one or both. Also check out the Stallions calendar on the first page.
Can't forget the other custom products, such as mugs, journals, magnets, keytags and more!
Thanks again to all those who purchased custom gifts - it's always a pleasure to help preserve special moments in unique ways.
For your own custom products, visit the gift shop...
Why, why, why does charity and generosity always backfire?!
One (likely ex) client got me all sorts of fired up, but this isn't close to the first time this sort of thing has happened.
I'm very busy right now, getting orders shipped and ready for the holidays, and also doing holiday card shoots...
In the middle of all this, after I've bent over backwards for a person, donating images towards a GOOD cause, it comes back to bite me in the ass.
Why do some people think they can get everything for free? Especially after I've already donated more than 25 hours of my time and $1K+ worth of images?!
One doesn't try to negotiate price with a lawyer, a doctor, the supermarket, a restaurant, the pool guy or a plumber, or worse, expect that service for free. You wouldn't dare ask for any of those things to be "on the house".
Understand that my career is FUN for me. I admit it, I absolutely LOVE my job! Guess what? I'd do every shoot pro bono if I could afford to. But does that mean I don't have bills to pay or mouths to feed? NO!
Photographs serve many purposes, all of them literally priceless. How many great images do you have of yourself? What if your beloved horse or pet or relative died (heaven forbid) tomorrow? How wonderful would your favorite equine publication be without those images that make you say "wow!" out loud? Do you think stallions would ever book a full season without a quality image?
Then why do some people think something so valuable is relatively worthless? It's becoming more and more apparent the further I go in my business. They see the benefit of wonderful imagery, but don't want to pay the price to get it.
SO many people want everything for free nowadays, or so it seems. It's pretty disheartening, to be honest...
On a similar note, this is a video from an amazing, prolific writer, Harlan Ellison, on being asked to give his work away for credit. Where have I heard that before? ;)
The language is a little rough, but I think he was feeling as I do tonight, so it's excusable. LOL
After becoming extremely frustrated with my 28mm "not-so-wide" angle lens while trying to capture some architectural interiors, I bit the bullet and bought a super wide angle lens so I didn't obliterate anyone in my furor. ;)
After much research, I opted for the Sigma 10-22mm f/4-5.6. It's meant for crop cameras (my D60 has a 1.6x focal length crop) so overall, it acts like a 16-32mm, which is just fine by me. So now I'm covered from 16mm to 364mm and my old camera feels important again. Not too shabby.
This lens is built like a tank, tack sharp, smooth, and focuses quickly even on my dinosaur of a SLR crop camera with one focus point activated in low light. :) Doesn't work quite so well on my Mark II as it's not intended for that camera, but it would work just fine in a pinch. Just can't zoom past 12mm or the edge of the lens shows up in the frame...
Since all my other work is primarily shot with a l-o-n-g lens, sometimes even with an extender, this is quite the shock to my style and I guess my brain too. Making me think much differently, but I'm having a BLAST experimenting.
